Patriots have long been kings of avoiding distractions

By Mark Daniels@MarkDanielsPJ

Monday

Jan 8, 2018 at 7:57 PMJan 8, 2018 at 7:57 PM

FOXBORO — The Patriots were bracing for another Super Bowl run when Bill Belichick was running science experiments related to a football’s PSI level when filled inside and then played with outside. In the early days of Deflategate, the Patriots coach took it upon himself to come up with a logical explanation why the Patriots footballs in the AFC Championship were underinflated.

Belichick then gave a half-hour press conference talking about his knowledge of PSI — a week before his team departed for Phoenix, Arizona. At the same time, his coaches prepped for the Seattle Seahawks and Super Bowl XLIX.

We all know what happened next.

Distractions come in all forms and fashion at 1 Patriot Place. This playoff run is similar. A story by ESPN last week talked of infighting and friction between the biggest names in Gillette Stadium — Belichick, Tom Brady and Robert Kraft. Could the trio’s run be coming to an end, the story asked.

Despite the drama, the Patriots carry on as usual.

“Overall, I think we’ve done a lot of good things this year. I think our record reflects that,” Belichick said Monday. “But it really doesn’t matter. We're in a one-game season now, and so we'll turn all of our attention and focus to having the best performance we can have on Saturday night.”

Winning while quelling outside noise has become a common theme for the Patriots. Last season, Brady served his four-game Deflategate suspension. He returned looking better and playing better while leading the Patriots to biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.

Back in 2015, following the original Deflategate allegations, the Pats came away with an epic win over the Seahawks showing that Belichick’s midweek science experiments didn’t distract from the ultimate goal. You can even go back to 2007 when, after the Spygate allegations, the Patriots went undefeated in the regular season before falling to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. Or in 2013 when the team learned tight end Aaron Hernandez was being arrested and charged with murder. The Pats went on to fall in the AFC championship.

Outside distractions usually happen and then typical results follow — the Patriots still win.

“I think a lot of times, a lot of stuff comes out that’s not about the mass group. Like for a lot of us, it has nothing to do with us,” Devin McCourty said. “The thing that has to do with all of us is going and winning football games. I think that remains to be everybody’s focus. I don’t see that changing around here. It’s all about going out there and playing for each other and winning. That’ll continue to be the plan this week. “

We’ve seen the Patriots continue the trend to ignoring the noise this season. There’s been drama in Foxboro with Belichick removing Brady’s body coach and friend Alex Guerrero from the team plane and sideline. There’s been reported tension inside Gillette between Belichick and Brady. Whatever angst is there hasn’t translated to the field.

The Patriots are 13-3 and the AFC’s No. 1 seed heading into this Saturday’s AFC divisional matchup with the Tennessee Titans. Meanwhile, Brady was named to the first-team All Pro for the first time since 2010. He’s also the NFL’s passing yards leader and frontrunner to be named MVP.

“He knows exactly how to handle outside noise,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. “His job as the quarterback is always difficult in terms of the preparation for the opponent, and he knows how much time and effort that takes to be ready to play against a really good team. I have no doubt that his focus will be on what it needs to be on this week, like it always is, and he’ll have a great week of preparation and practice and be ready to go on Saturday night.”

It all comes back down to Belichick. The coach has everyone in Gillette Stadium — players and coaches — hyper focused on each week. There might be outside noise now, but in those walls — the team is focused on one thing.

Said Belichick: “It’s just get ready to play the Titans. That’s what it is.”

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